Brothers and Others: An Alternate Universe
by SweetInnocence93
Summary: Marth is trying to find his little brother Roy who has been kidnapped by an unknown creature. From there, he meets up with unlikely characters including Link Zelda , Dead or Alive, and Mario characters. Please review and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or New Zack Island featured in this fanfic. The ideas that follow, however, are my own. Feel free to comment. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day at the beach. The sun was shining brightly and the girls could hear the waves from the ocean hitting the shore.

"Hurry! We're already late! Let's try not to make the others too mad!" Leifang called to Kasumi. They were sharing a hotel room in Seabreeze Cottage at New Zack Island. Although this was only their third trip to the island, many of the girls were familiar with almost every inch of the place. They had also never seen any girls besides Nikki and them and any guys except Zack. Well, there were the people that worked at the stores and that delivered gifts they might receive, but other than that, it was just them.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Kasumi yelled as she ran out the door to their hotel room, slamming it closed. Kasumi was wearing her hair up in a braid tied by a yellow ribbon from Leifang. Kasumi was also wearing a light pink bikini and no shoes. Leifang was wearing her favorite yellow flower swimsuit and matching flip-flops.

The girls ran to a lush green forest on part of New Zack Island. They had made a plan to meet Hitomi and Kokoro there at eight this morning.

"We're here!" the girls yelled, running to the volleyball net where they expected to see the other two girls, but no one was there.

"Maybe they're running late" Kasumi suggested.

"Hitomi doesn't usually run late" Leifang said. The two girls looked around that area to make sure the others weren't nearby, but they still didn't see them. Leifang and Kasumi decided to climb a nearby tree to keep themselves entertained.

After half an hour of waiting, the girls decided to head over to the hotel that Hitomi and Kokoro were staying at, the Gemstone Suite.

"Hi" they greeted the person sitting at the front desk of the hotel.

"Good morning ladies" the lady said.

"Can you tell us what room Kokoro and Hitomi are staying in?"

"Sure, but you won't find them in there. They left about half an hour ago. I thought they were supposed to be meeting up with both of you?" the lady informed them.

"Okay, well thanks anyway" the girls said, running out of the hotel, worried.

* * *

After searching all over the island and asking everyone they came across, Kasumi and Leifang realized that Hitomi and Kokoro were missing.

"Where are they? What happened to them?" Kasumi asked Leifang.

"I don't know" Leifang said, "but I'm sure it can't be good."

* * *

While the girls all over the island were searching for Hitomi and Kokoro, Hitomi and Kokoro were sitting gagged and blindfolded. They couldn't move or stop the man that had kidnapped them.

"Promise not to scream when I take these off, okay?" he said. The only response the girls could give was a nod of their heads. When he saw this, he removed the bonds. The girls saw the man standing in front of them. He was dressed all in black and was wearing a hood, so they couldn't see his face.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Hitomi asked.

As the man spoke, he removed the hood, revealing who he was. "My name is Marth and I need your help" he said.

"Why didn't you just ask?" Kokoro inquired.

"I was afraid you might say no and no isn't really an option" Marth said.

"Untie us and maybe we'll help you" Hitomi said. Marth listened and untied them.

"So, what's the problem?" both of the girls asked at the same time.

"My brother Roy has been taken somewhere and I can't find him anywhere. I need your help to find him. Rumors are saying that you have faced this enemy before, but I haven't. Will you help?" he pleaded.

"We'll be back with an answer" Kokoro said before Hitomi and her took off for New Zack Island. They ran off so fast that Marth couldn't stop them.

"Great" Marth said to himself. 'Don't worry Roy, I'll find you soon."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own the characters or island portrayed in this fanfic.

Chapter 2

Link and Zelda were running through the trees of the forest, away from the enemy not far behind. They could hear the large claws of the creature just a few feet away, pounding on the ground below. Suddenly, something grabbed Zelda's leg, yanking her from the tree she was on. She let out a scream before disappearing and reappearing right next to Link. Seconds later, the same claw dug into her leg, preventing her from disappearing again.

"Link!" she screamed, trying to get away from this beast. "Help me!"

"Zelda!" Link called back, running after the creature. Their screams echoed through the forest. Link was running as fast as he could, but it didn't seem to be fast enough. Before he knew it, Zelda and the beast had disappeared and Link was chasing nothing. He stopped and made one last call: "ZELDA!"

* * *

Marth couldn't wait for Kokoro and Hitomi to come back. He had to find Roy _now_, not later. He started running back the way he came. If they weren't gonna help, he would just have to look for his brother himself. He was on an island close to New Zack Island. This island also had a forest. He began to run through this forest, which led him back to where he came from. As he ran through the trees, he saw a blur in the shape of a boy around his height running the opposite way. Marth slowed down and finally stopped so that he could get a better look at the shape. He noticed that this figure was also slowing down and looking at Marth.

Marth ran towards the young man, recognizing him instantly.

"What are you doing here?" Marth asked.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Link asked Marth the same question.

"Last time I saw you was at the Brawl" Marth said.

"I'm looking for Zelda" Link finally said. "Some creature took her, I'm not exactly sure where. Will you help me?" Link asked.

"Sounds like the thing that took my brother" Marth responded. "So the creature went that way?" Marth asked, pointing in the direction he had been running from.

"That's where it was going before it disappeared" Link said.

"I was just coming from there. He's probably going after the girls on that island!" he exclaimed while pointing towards New Zack Island.

"Let's go!" they both said. New Zack Island wasn't too far from where they were, but it would still take a little while to get there.

* * *

The room he was in was pitch black. Nothing could be seen, but he could still hear the harsh breathing of the newcomer. He wasn't exactly sure how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was seeing his brother and that was it. He was guessing the same thing had happened to the others in the room with him. In a way, he hoped his brother would come to get him, but a different part of him didn't because he didn't want anything to happen to Marth.

He was constantly trying to move his paralyzed body to try and get rid of the numbing feeling all throughout it. He was hoping that if he kept moving his body, it would wake up soon. He was already starting to get feeling in his fingers and could feel the ache of having his arms above his head and his wrists tied together. He knew his sword had been taken away, so he wasn't sure what he was gonna do when he could move again. He couldn't see or talk to the others through the gag in his and their mouths.

* * *

Zelda was trying to use her magic to release her from her bonds or to teleport somewhere else, but it wasn't working. The binds holding her were stopping the flow of her magic, but maybe she could still reach out to the minds of others in the room and talk to them that way. She sent out a telepathic message to everyone in the room. Most of the people that heard her were too freaked out to respond, but she did get one answer.

"Zelda?" it asked. "What are you doing here?" he mentally asked her.

"Roy, is that you?" she asked him.

"Yeah, it's me. It's great to finally hear a familiar voice. How long have you been here?" Roy asked.

"A couple of hours. What about you?"

"I don't know. It's been a while. I don't know how you are talking to me like this, but it's great. We should find a way to get out" Roy said. "I'm finally starting to get feeling in my fingers. Can you move at all?"

"No and my powers won't work with this rope. This is the only power that has worked so far. Probably because I'm not trying to get out of the rope."

"I'll get you out of here" Roy promised her. That's when the door to the dungeon opened and something or someone walked in. Although Roy and Zelda couldn't see, they could hear heavy footsteps walking towards them. They remained as still as possible so that whatever or whoever was in the room with them wouldn't do anything to hurt them.

After a minute or two, the footsteps were heard walking away from them. They could hear the door to the dungeon open and close. The room was quiet once again, except for the thoughts running through the people trapped inside.

"Are you okay?" Zelda asked Roy.

"Yeah" Roy said in response. "But if we don't get out of here soon, we won't be"

* * *

"Are we almost there?" Link asked.

"I don't know" Marth said.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Link asked.

"Look, I'm not stupid. We'll be there in a little bit. The hard part was getting on New Zack Island. We already did that, so we're not far from the jungle" Marth answered, irritated. "Are you sure it headed for the jungle?"

Before Link could answer Marth's question, they could hear a female voice call out to them.

"Hey" the voice said. The voice sounded like it was behind them. Link and Marth both turned around. No one was there. When they turned back around, that's when they realized the voice had come from the forest. At first, they only saw Hitomi step out from behind the trees. Then, they saw other girls from the island appear behind Hitomi. Link and Marth waited to see what Hitomi had to say.

"We'll help you find your brother" Hitomi told Marth.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or island portrayed in this fanfic, though the dungeon and secret cave are my own along with the events that follow.

Chapter 3

It was hours later. At this moment, Roy was just starting to get the feeling back into his legs and, although he could still barely move them, he could feel them twitching with the attempt. He could move his arms a little more too. Zelda had stopped talking to him about twenty minutes ago, since they were trying to brainstorm ways to get out of the dungeon they were in.

"Can you move any more than before?" Zelda asked him.

"Yeah, I'm getting feeling back in my arms and legs. What about you?"

"I can barely move my fingers, but yeah. So, here's my idea" she told him. Zelda told Roy that she planned on changing into Sheik, her guy form, since that form of herself would at least be stronger than her female self. The magic it took to transform into Sheik would make her disappear for a second causing her to go through the ropes that held her.

"I wouldn't exactly be forcing my way out of the rope" Zelda explained. "Once I'm out, I'll use a spell to get rid of whatever they put in us to keep us paralyzed. Then, I'll untie you and we'll sneak out".

"What about everyone else in here?" Roy asked.

"We'll come back for them" Zelda said before the door to the dungeon opened once again.

The same heavy footsteps as before could be heard walking towards them. Roy and Zelda remained perfectly still, like they had been before. Roy expected the footsteps to stop before they reached him just like they did the first time, but they continued to walk forward until they could be heard stopping directly in front of Roy's hanging body. Panic began to rise in Roy's chest. Before he could do anything else, he could feel the prick of the needle in his arm and could hear the creature walking away, the door slamming behind it. The fingers he was able to move just a minute ago were frozen again. Roy could feel the rest of his body going numb like before. The muscles he had used to hold up his head began to go lax, and he felt his head falling to the side unwillingly. His whole body seemed to be asleep, his mind following seconds later, reaching perfect darkness.

* * *

"We'll help you find your brother" Hitomi told Marth. A hint of relief showed on Marth's face after these words had been said. He was glad to have new companions on his quest to find his brother. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he needed the extra help.

"Okay" Marth said.

"We think the creature ran towards the forest" Link informed the girls. The girls nodded in response.

"Then let's go!" Hitomi exclaimed before everyone started running towards the forest.

As they were running, Hitomi told the boys "During the day, all of us on the island go everywhere except for one place in this forest. There is a hidden cave. Nothing really grows over there, but the area is so small that no one really cares to look for a reason why." The other girls from the island stared at Hitomi, wondering how she knew of such a place and cave.

"What?" she asked them. "I like to grow some of my own food, so the last time I came here, I tried. I figured that over here was a good area since no one came over here and the soil was full of nutrients and such. After planting a couple of seeds, I ended up stumbling over a few tree roots. There was a pile of broken tree branches stacked up. I picked them up and that's when I saw the hole. It was barely big enough to crawl through, but I did and that's when I realized that the cliff right there is more than just a cliff. There was so much open space in that cave. It was amazing, but something about the place sort of freaked me out, so I got out of there. I guess I was right about the place."

"I've been over there plenty of times. I never noticed the hole" Ayane said.

"We're almost there" Hitomi said. "I'll show it to you when we get there"

* * *

"Roy?" Zelda asked after the creature was gone. She waited for Roy's answer, but she never received one. After waiting for a minute with no reply, Zelda tried to read Roy's mind, but there were no thoughts running through his head.

"Roy?" she asked, although she knew she wouldn't get an answer. Zelda began to panic. _"I guess it's time to put our plan into action"_ she thought to herself before transforming into Sheik. She felt the ropes that held her disappear and felt herself hit the ground with a loud and painful THUMP! _"Ow"_ she thought to herself. Then, she concentrated on getting the paralyzing liquid out of her body. She imagined it floating out into the surrounding air and evaporating. Seconds later, she felt it leaving her body.

Once she got the feeling back into her body, she used her magic to turn back into her Zelda form and took off her blindfold and gag. Then, she made a purple light come out of her hands. Using the light, she looked for Roy, finding him tied up on the other side of the room. His head was hanging limply to the side, his eyes closed. Zelda realized that the creature had given Roy more of the drug that had caused them to pass out and become paralyzed in the first place. Zelda took off his blindfold and gag. She reached out and gently touched each of his shoulders with her hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated on getting the drug out of him the same way she got it out of herself. Seconds later, she could feel it leaving him. She released his shoulders and waited for him to wake up.

Groggily, Roy lifted up his head and saw Zelda standing in front of him. He noticed that he could move his body normally again.

"What happened?" he quietly asked her out loud instead of in their heads like they had been doing before.

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get out of here before they come back in" she told him. She used her powers to loosen the ropes that held Roy so he could get out. Roy wasn't expecting this, but he was still able to successfully land on his feet. With the glow of Zelda's purple magic, both of them were able to find where the exit was and get out of the dungeon door unnoticed. They sneaked past the guards and ended up in a different hallway with even more guards. "So what do we do now?" Roy asked Zelda, once again talking by using their minds.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Just a reminder, the characters in this fanfic are not mine. Neither is New Zack Island. However the ideas are mine, and I would love any sort of feedback, questions or comments, on how my story is entertaining all my visitors. In the meantime, enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Okay, so are you guys ready for this?" Hitomi asked, stopping at the end of the Brilliant Jungle. This area led into Nikki Beach. On this part of the island, there was a cliff and dying trees and other plants, although the soil in this area was still perfect for stuff to grow on. The plants were seen gradually disappearing.

"I always pass this area to get to the volleyball net in the jungle" Ayane said.

"Yeah, but did you ever look around?" Hitomi replied.

"Well, some, but…"

"Exactly. You didn't really pay attention to this area. It doesn't look like much, so you just passed by."

After Hitomi said this, she directed her attention to everyone else in the group, not just Ayane.

"The curves of this cliff are a little strange" she began to say. "They curve in and out dramatically. These curves, along with dead tree roots, form a natural cover for the cave. I'm guessing the plants in this area used to be really green. I'm still trying to find out why everything started dying all of a sudden. It must be something foreign, maybe something in the air. It might also have something to do with whatever is going on in that cave. I say this because the closer you are to the cave, the more dead the plants seem to be."

It took a minute for everyone to absorb this new information. "So, where's this cave?" Leifang asked, stepping forward to face Hitomi.

* * *

He could feel his body being dragged on the hard ground beneath him. He couldn't move his body, but his mind was still alert. He had felt his sword being taken away from him, but he couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening. As he continued to be dragged across the ground, he heard the deep grunt of the creature that was taking him to some unknown room. He had felt the needle go into him earlier and, although he felt his eyes close, he knew he was still awake. He had felt the blindfold and gag be put in his mouth and over his eyes. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he would figure it out. He would also find out why he hadn't passed out when he was sure he was supposed to.

Now, he heard lighter footsteps walk up to him while the creature with heavy footsteps held him up in the air. He felt chains being placed around his wrists uncomfortably tight. He also heard the footsteps walk away, closing the door behind them.

He listened for a minute, but after a minute of silence, he attempted to move. He felt pain shoot up his legs with the attempt. Although he wanted to scream, his body and restraints wouldn't allow it. Instead, he felt the air leave him. It took him another minute to get his breath back. The pain still filled his body, but at least he could breathe again.

"Okay, let's try that again" Ike thought to himself, knowing that the attempt would hurt him, but he could already feel the new strength in his body.

* * *

A rustle could be heard from behind the group. They turned around, alarmed, trying to see what it was from.

"Okay, I changed my mind. Did I miss any of the action?" Tina emerged from behind a bush. Leifang's face fell, but a smirk appeared on Ayane's face. "Decided to show, huh? Took you long enough"

Tina shot a glare at Ayane for the comment that she had just made, but after a second, Tina let it go.

"Oh, and I brought a friend along. Hope you don't mind" Tina said as Lisa walked up. Some other faces in the group lit up when they saw her. The two girls looked around at their new companions, noticing Marth and Link for the first time.

"Okay, now that we've had our little reunion, can we get back to what we were talking about?" someone in the group said.

"Right. So as I was saying, the cave is right…here…" Hitomi began, but she didn't see the cave entrance.

"I know it's around here somewhere" she said. She continued feeling around, searching for the hole that seemed to have disappeared.

"Nice. Leading us to an imaginary cave" Ayane started to say. Before she could finish her sentence, the group watched Hitomi fall through tree roots. When Hitomi fell all the way in, the tree roots went back to their original position, covering the group's view of Hitomi. Some of the members of the group let out gasps when they saw her fall, but they weren't able to move fast enough to catch her before she fell in. Although all of them were concerned, Kasumi was the first to say anything.

"Are you okay?" Kasumi called down to Hitomi.

"Ugh. Yeah. I found the entrance! It's gotten a little wider and deeper since last time" she called. Hitomi's voice sounded far away.

"Um, how far of a fall is it?" Kasumi asked.

"I don't know. Ten feet maybe?" Hitomi answered.

"Really? It sounds more like fifty feet" Kasumi said.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going in!" Lisa exclaimed.

The other people in the group were about to protest, but before they could, Lisa jumped in and disappeared.

After a moment's silence, Lisa called out "Come on you guys! Are you coming or not?" This caused the rest of the group to take turns going into the entrance leading into the cave.

Finally, the last person fell into the hole.

"Is everyone here?" Hitomi asked. She heard a few murmured responses, all of them being 'yes'.

"What do we do now?" Leifang asked in a hushed voice. An eerie silence filled the cave, all except for the echo of Leifang's question.

Instead of answering Leifang, Kokoro asked her own question; "You guys, do you see that glow?" Her voice was even more quiet than Leifang's. This question caused everyone in the group to face the same direction that Kokoro was referring to.

"Someone else is here" Ayane said, for once not using a cruel tone of voice.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"So what do we do now?" Roy asked Zelda as they continued to stand in the second hallway.

"I'm still thinking" Zelda responded. If the two of them couldn't find a way out of there soon, they would be caught and neither one of them wanted to return to the dungeon anytime soon.

This hallway was really long with at least twenty guards in it. The first hallway was shorter, containing only ten guards in it. This hallway was twice as long.

"I need to get my sword back" Roy told Zelda.

"Well, that's not an option right now. There's too many guards and I'm running low on magic. Have any other bright ideas?"

"I…" Roy started to say, but the doorway at the end of this long hallway slowly started opening. All of the guards in the hall turned to face whatever or whoever was coming out of the door. Luckily, this door was on the opposite side of Roy and Zelda, causing all of the guards to turn away from them. This gave Zelda and Roy the opportunity to escape unnoticed. The only problem was that there was nowhere else in the hall to escape from. Even if they did manage to get past the guards, there was still whatever or whoever was coming out of the door.

While Zelda looked for a place to escape from, Roy couldn't help but watch the opening door.

"Roy, help me!" Zelda pleaded quietly in their heads, but Roy seemed to be ignoring her. He couldn't help but look at the door and the advancing figure.

"Roy!" Zelda called out again. "Come on!

Roy saw the creature that stepped out from behind the door; then his mind went blank. Zelda looked over at Roy and saw his glazed eyes. She knew that something was wrong with him or he wouldn't be acting like this. Zelda used the last of her magic to teleport past the door that the seven foot creature just walked out of. She knew that doing this was a risk, but she only had enough magic to check who was behind the door or to teleport Roy and herself out of there. She had to pick one or the other and she knew they couldn't stay there.

* * *

He could swing his legs a little and his arms could move. This was good, considering he had only been in this place for half an hour. Ike swung his legs back and forth, testing his strength and the strength of the chains that held him. The only thing that stayed constant was the pain that followed these movements. However, he was learning to adjust to this pain. The room he was in was completely silent. The silence was suffocating. He wondered why he didn't hear any rustling or other noises around him.

"I guess it's a good thing, though" he thought. "It means whoever took me here isn't around". Ike had a feeling that he wasn't alone, but at the same time, it seemed too quiet for anyone else to be in the room with him. Suddenly, the silence ended when he heard the heavy footsteps outside of the dungeon door. Ike stopped moving and simply hung, just like his captors had originally left him. The door could be heard opening, heavy footsteps walked in, stayed a minute, and walked back out. Ike waited for the perfect silence to return. When he knew he was alone, he began to move again.

Suddenly, the same heavy footsteps, as well as the lighter footsteps, walked back in. He went back to his still position, wondering why they had come back so suddenly. Had they heard him? He heard them dragging something. No, it was someone. The creatures dragged the body towards Ike. They didn't stop until they were right next to Ike on his left side. They could be heard chaining this new person to the ceiling just like they had done to him. His heart was pounding against his chest rapidly. Now he knew he wasn't alone, but a question still remained; just who was this other person?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Though I was able to create this wonderful fiction with these characters, I hate to say that they aren't of my own imagination, and neither is New Zack Island. The cave and traps the characters fall into, however, came from me. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Please review if you have the time, but if you can't then please enjoy!

Chapter 6

"We're not alone" Ayane said. The group cautiously and silently walked towards the glowing light. As they came closer, they could tell that there were others there, guards. It didn't look like the guards had seen them yet, and they wanted to keep it that way. Marth and Link were on high alert; they might come face-to-face with the creature that had kidnapped the ones they cared about. It would be better if they didn't, but if they did, it was almost a guarantee that Roy and Zelda would be here as well.

The group was able to hide behind one of the stone walls not far from the entrance of the cave. Everyone started wondering what was going on in here. Behind the wall, the group decided to make a plan. A few of them would try to get past these guards and, if they couldn't, they would fight their way over to the metal gate that was being guarded. The ones that would be going forth were Marth, Link, and Hitomi.

The gate that was being guarded had a light to the left side of it. This light was green when the door was open and red when the door was locked. Right now, the light was red. From the looks of it, this door needed some type of key to make it open, not a password.

Marth, Link, and Hitomi slowly made their way forward while the others kept a close eye on them and remained behind the first stone wall. There were other stone walls that the three of them could hide behind while they were making their way past the guards. By using these walls, the threesome figured that they would be able to make it to the gate without a problem. Once there, though, they would still need a key to open the door, unless they could find some other way to open the door. Maybe they would need to pick a fight after all.

The three of them were able to make it past the first half of the guards successfully. However, Hitomi was spotted when she was running to one of the next walls. Marth and Link remained hidden. All of the guards faced her, but they didn't advance right away.

Hitomi hesitated before she said "I just wanted to check out the cave. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything. I'll just be leaving if that's okay with you". Obviously, this wasn't okay with the guards. They began to circle around her, their weapons pointed towards her. Then, they advanced. Hitomi took care of the first two guards that reached her. That's when Marth and Link decided to jump out and help. Together, they took down all of the guards in the hallway.

"Now, who has the key?" Hitomi asked. The three of them searched the pockets of the guards that they just knocked out. After checking every guard, they still ended up without a key. Before they could do anything else, an alarm began to go off. The part of the cave they were in began to flash red.

"We need to get out of here" Marth said. They began to run back to where the others were. They saw the light beside the door turn green, but they kept running away from it. Nobody was coming out, but they knew it was a trap. As Hitomi, Link, and Marth continued to run towards the others, a metal trap fell over them, trapping them inside. Then, the ground beneath them began to move upward and a patch in the roof of the cave opened up.

The hidden group ran towards the three. They heard their three friends scream before they disappeared through the hole up above. Then, the ground went back to its original position, without the trap and the others. The alarm continued to go off as the door to the metal gate opened. A loud booming voice greeted them, along with the metal bars that blocked the entrance to the cave, preventing their escape route.

"Now what would all of you be doing here in this cave today? Come to save some friends? Well, that's not going to happen. Not if I can help it" the creature standing in front of them said. None of the girls recognized this creature, but Marth, Roy, and Link would know him as Bowser.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: I know it's been forever since I've updated this story. Life got busy, and I didn't seem to be getting much support or reviews on this story. However, when I saw that my story had been favorited by DragonDriscoll, I found new inspiration. I wrote more of this story long ago, and I hope what you read now was worth the wait. Thanks for all those who enjoy reading this story. Please enjoy, and if anyone has any ideas on the story, please comment. I would love the feedback!

Chapter 7

"Where are we?" Hitomi asked the boys. They were still sitting in the metal cage in the middle of a large room lit by torches on the walls. These torches only provided a little light in this cave, still leaving most of the room in shadows. There were guards lining the walls, creating a perfect circle of security. There were too many guards to count. These guards were each wearing black cloaks with a hood that hid their face with shadow. Each of them had their heads slightly facing the floor, holding a sword with both of their hands directly in front of them. The swords dug into the hard dirt ground. By the way the guards were looking down, it was hard to tell who they were from so far away.

"I don't know" Marth said. It was hard for the three of them to hear each other through the noise going on around them.

"Guys, look" Link said as someone walked towards them. The three of them looked up to see who this person was.

"Did you come to enjoy the show?" this person said as he neared the cage. A puzzled look passed over the three of them. This caused the newcomer to laugh.

"Oh, come on. You had to know something was going on here, or you wouldn't have come. You also must have some fighting skills or you wouldn't have gotten past my guards so easily". The voice of this man was unusually harsh, almost inhuman. It was like no other voice they had heard before.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Link asked.

"Oh, we've got ourselves a serious one here" the man said. "You'll find out soon enough. Don't want to spoil the surprise". After saying this, the man began to laugh his evil laugh again. He began to back away from the cage as the cage began to move again. The cage jerked to the left, flinging its passengers to the metal ground. The cage began to move towards one of the walls. As the cage came near it, the guards on that wall obediently moved to the side of the wall, away from the middle of it. When the cage came a few feet from the wall, the middle of the wall started opening up just like the wall that had taken them into this room in the first place. From the look of it, this hole didn't look like anything special, but there was a lot more to it than met the eye.

The cage stopped right outside of this new hole. Some of the guards were right next to this cage now, putting the three inside the cage on edge. If they had wanted to, they would be able to reach out and barely touch one of these guards. It was in this new position that both Link and Marth were able to tell that each one of these guards had different swords, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. They noticed this because they had knowledge about swords, since they each had a sword of their own. Hitomi didn't know about swords like they did since her specialty was hand-to-hand combat. She was still able to tell some of the swords were different, but she didn't know about the weaknesses and strengths of each sword.

While Marth and Link were observing the swords of these guards, Hitomi was trying to figure out where they were and trying to see what was so special about that new hole. She knew there must be something more to it, or this guy wouldn't be threatening to put them inside of it.

"What's with this guy and secret openings?" Hitomi asked herself, just wondering who this guy was and what could possibly be going on here. The only thing she truly knew was that nothing going on here was a good thing.

"I almost got it" Ike said in his head. He could feel the chains on him get a little looser than they had been a second ago. "Come on!" he said, frustrated. He had his legs pushing against the chains while he tried to pull his hands out of the chains. If he could figure out how exactly the chains had been wrapped around his wrists, he would be able to get free. It was a little hard trying to do this because his eyes were covered up. He knew he could probably figure out a way to get out of the blindfold, but if he didn't have his blindfold on and he was still stuck in the chains when the footsteps came back, he would be caught.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, he heard movement in the room. Ike stopped moving to try and listen to where the sound was coming from. He didn't hear any footsteps and the door had never opened. It was different from the footsteps, but was it a friend or an enemy? Then a thought occurred to him; it could the person next to him. Ike listened even more closely than before. No. It couldn't be. This noise was coming from over there, but it was still too far away. So what was it? Before Ike knew it, the noise which had just been several feet away was now directly in front of him. He could feel the presence of this newcomer. The only sound he could hear now was his heartbeat.

He stayed as still and quiet as possible, but he knew he had been caught since this presence still hovered over him. He tried to think of what to do next, but he couldn't come up with a way to get out of these chains and past the person that was there with him. Even if he was able to get out of the chains, he was still too weak to fight off someone right now.

The next thing Ike knew, he felt hands on the back of his head. Before he could react, his blindfold was torn off. Ike opened his eyes, seeing a man wearing a ninja outfit. He looked up to see the face of this man. The bottom half of his face was covered up. Ike recognized this man as a ninja, but why was he here? The ninja held one finger up to his mouth, signaling Ike to keep quiet. Ike nodded silently in response. Then, in another split second, the ninja was taking off Ike's gag.

"Do you think you can stand up?" the ninja asked Ike in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, probably" Ike responded in a voice just as quiet.

"Good. Do you trust me?" the ninja asked. Ike simply gave another nod before the two of them were surrounded by a cloud of mist that came out of nowhere. It was hard to see this mist through the darkness and even more difficult to try and see through it. Ike's body began to feel very light and the next thing he knew, he was falling to the ground. In order to catch himself, he did a roll and ended up on his feet. The chains that held him just a few seconds ago were now slowly swaying back and forth in the air, empty.

Zelda reappeared on the other side of the door. She felt like collapsing, but she knew she had to stay strong, especially right now. She looked at her surroundings. There were other people in here, but they were on the other side of the room. This gave her the perfect opportunity to hide behind something. She began to move, looking behind her to make sure Roy was following. She faced forward, but quickly turned back around. Wait. Where was Roy? He wasn't behind her.. Then, Zelda began to panic. She looked left. Nothing. She looked right. Still nothing. Then she looked straight ahead. Roy wasn't there, but she saw something. The people from the other side of the room were staring at her.

"Uh oh" Zelda thought. "What do I do"? More thoughts began to fill her head, but they included Roy. He hadn't been acting normally; you could see that something was wrong with him just by looking into his eyes. They were glazed over, almost as if he wasn't there anymore. In that moment, Zelda realized what had happened; she had used too much magic earlier, so it wasn't strong enough to teleport both her and Roy into this new room. That meant that Roy was stuck in the other room with that creature.

"What will they do to him?" Zelda asked herself. If Roy had been acting normal before she had teleported, she wouldn't have been as worried, but that wasn't the case. Now, she not only had Roy to worry about, but herself as well. She was completely drained of magic, and the soldiers continued to make their way closer and closer to her with every passing second.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ayane and the rest of the group stood face to face with Bowser. To some of the girls, he looked like some creature that was a mix between a dragon and a turtle. They had never seen a creature quite like him and, although they didn't know him, they could tell just by looking at him that he was up to no good.

"And how are _you_ going to stop all of us?" Ayane mockingly asked him, causing him to let out a hiss of anger.

"How DARE you underestimate me!" Bowser growled, taking giant steps towards the group. "You have no idea who you're messing with"! The group knew that this creature was actually right when he said this, but they wouldn't admit it.

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you tell us?" Ayane teased. With every word that came out of her mouth, Bowser seemed to grow even angrier.

Bowser let out an angry growl and ran towards Ayane. She was easily able to dodge him, simply by stepping to the side, allowing Bowser to run right past her. It was a good thing for her, but a bad thing for the girls that stood behind Ayane. They tried to move out of the way, but Leifang and Tina weren't able to move fast enough. Bowser ran directly into them, flinging Tina to the right and Leifang to the left.

"Leifang! Tina!" Kasumi called out as they hit the wall. Leifang's head hit a rock that was sticking out of the wall, knocking her out. Tina had the breath knocked out of her, but she didn't pass out. Bowser realized he ran right past Ayane and was trying to slow down, but he had picked up so much momentum that he couldn't slow down. He was heading towards a different wall.

"Nooooo!" he yelled as he slammed into the wall. Kokoro, Kasumi, and the others ran to their injured friends. Ayane didn't run over to either one of them, facing Bowser in battle instead. Bowser slowly got up from the ground where he had fallen.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he yelled to Ayane. By this point, Ayane was angry with herself and Bowser and didn't answer with a sarcastic comment like she would normally do. She ran towards him making different hand signals that built up her power. Bowser breathed fire at her but her magic was surrounding her, protecting her from the flames, but it wouldn't last long.

"What!?" Bowser said when he saw this. Then, he turned himself into a ball of spikes. Ayane was still a few feet away from Bowser when she stopped running. Bowser continued to roll closer to her.

"Kasumi!" she yelled to Kasumi.

"Got it!" Kasumi answered. She got up from her spot by Leifang, teleported to where Tina and the others were, grabbed them, and teleported back to where Leifang was. Now the whole group was together. Tina was still trying to get her breath back. Kasumi started building up energy for the next move she would be doing. Kasumi understood what Ayane was about to do. As kids, they used to practice their skills together before they became enemies. They used to be really close. One of the techniques they would practice was Ayane using a wave of energy that would seriously injure her opponent. Kasumi would practice a shield against this. They each became really good at this technique, but then they became enemies. This was the move that Ayane was about to do. Kasumi could tell by the way Ayane called out to her and by the hand signals. Kasumi waited for Ayane to tell her when to put her shield up since their attacks and defenses could only last for a limited amount of time.

"Now!" Ayane called out. Kasumi opened up her eyes, held one hand in a blade towards the center of her, the other hand in a blade forming a wide circle in front of her. When her hands connected, the small shield expanded, creating a wall of pink energy that shielded the group. Kasumi put as much energy as she could into this shield since she was taking care of others, not just herself as she always had.

Ayane formed a fist, pushing her energy towards the ground. The wave of purple energy flew across the room, hitting Kasumi's shield with full force. Kasumi struggled to maintain the shield, but it held. Bowser flung across from Ayane, flying into yet another wall. This time, Bowser didn't get back up. The unconscious guards in the room were flung from their spots on their ground as well. The energy shook the walls of the cave and destroyed the metal gate blocking the entrance as well as the metal gate and door that the group was trying to get through. Ayane's energy faded away, Kasumi's barrier disappearing not long afterwards. Ayane slowly stood up, but her energy was completely gone. She began to fall towards the ground, but Kokoro dashed towards her to catch her before she hit the ground. Kokoro was the fastest of everyone in the group. Kasumi began to sway in her spot, her energy drained as well. Both her and Ayane had to use more energy than either one of them had ever used before. Lisa stood behind Kasumi, helping her keep her balance.

"Are you okay?" she gently asked Kasumi.

"Yeah, I think so" she said. She began to make her way towards Ayane, but Lisa stopped her. "I think you should rest for a minute" she said, putting a gentle hand on Kasumi's shoulder. Kasumi took Lisa's advice, sitting down beside Leifang who was beginning to stir.

"What happened?" Leifang groggily asked. She looked at her surroundings, noticing the unconscious Ayane as well as the scorched walls.

"Don't worry about it" Kasumi answered. Leifang turned to face Kasumi, noticing her pale face.

"Are you alright?"

"She'll be fine" Lisa answered for Kasumi. "She just needs to rest for a minute".

The group fell into a shocked silence, not sure exactly what to say or do at the moment.

The man that had been in the room with Marth, Link, and Hitomi heard the noise from the battle below them. The room shook like an earthquake had hit it, but went away just as quickly as it had come. This was a result from the technique Ayane had used.

"I'll be back. Don't go anywhere" he told the threesome before laughing and walking out of the room. After the man was gone, Hitomi asked the boys "What was that?"

"I think it might've been the others" Link answered. Marth continued to scan the surrounding guards and their swords from left to right. He scanned the guards in front of him, but the one sword that really caught his eye was the sword that one guard almost directly in front of him but slightly to the right was wearing.

"Link" Marth anxiously called to Link.

"Yeah?" he asked, wondering what Marth was so concerned about.

"Do you recognize the sword right there?" he said, pointing towards the guard that wore it. Link looked closely at the sword that was pointed out. Confusion passed over his face. Hitomi noticed this.

"What is it?" she worriedly and quietly asked.

"I've never seen a sword like that in my life" Link responded.

"That's because it's the Sword of Seals. There's only one in existence"

Hitomi and Link stared at Marth in amazement. "How do you know that?" Link asked.

"I know because that's my brother's sword" he answered. Silence filled the cage as the information was soaked up by Hitomi and Link.

Marth looked closer, trying to find out who the person holding his brother's sword could be. He pressed his face up against the bars of the cage, straining his eyes to see the person. Then the truth dawned on him; it was Roy. When Marth realized this, he called out to his brother.

"Roy" he whispered towards Roy. When he didn't receive any sort of reaction, he tried again, louder this time.

"Roy" he called, louder this time. Roy suddenly looked up, the fog leaving his eyes. His face was full of recognition, confusion, and shock.

"Marth?" he asked, sounding almost as if he was waking up from a dream. For a few more seconds, the clarity remained in his eyes before they were once again glazed over and his head fell back into its resting spot.

"Roy!" Marth yelled, worried now, but he didn't receive another answer. That's when the man came back into the room. He noticed Marth staring at Roy intensely, worriedly.

"Oh, is that a friend of yours? That's too bad. I'm afraid he's far too gone to get back now. He's actually one of my best guards".

"What did you do to him?" Marth screamed at the half-human man standing a few feet away from him.

"It doesn't really matter now does it? Like I said, the one you knew is gone. You can't get him back. Not now, not ever"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After Ike got out of the chains, the ninja said, "Think you can help me get the others out of here?"

"Sure" Ike responded. The two of them went opposite ways when Ike realized something; he couldn't see. The room was still really dark, making it close to impossible to make out the shapes of the others in the room. Ike strained his eyes to see, but he still didn't see the people until he was practically walking over them. He could hear the sound of chains being taken off on the other side of the room. Then, he was the one removing the chains.

The person that was chained up fell limply on top of him when the chains were removed. He graciously caught the stranger, not sure what to do with them. That's when he heard the ninja reappear behind him.

"Here, let me help with that" the ninja said, taking the person out of Ike's arms.

"I'll be back" he said, holding the two unchained people that Ike and this ninja had set free. Then, the ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Ike wasn't sure what to do, so he continued to get the others out of their chains, hoping that the creatures wouldn't come back while he was doing this.

The ninja came back a minute later and Ike handed him two more prisoners before he disappeared once again. They continued doing this until all of the prisoners were out of the dungeon.

"So I have a question" Ike started, but stopped to see if this ninja would let him continue. Only the silence answered. "Where are you taking everyone?"

"Somewhere safe" was the ninja's simple reply. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah" Ike said. "Who are you?"

At first, the ninja hesitated. Then he said, "My name is Ryu Hayabusa. I was once a member of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan before it was wiped out by Doku, an evil black samurai"

"I'm sorry to hear that" Ike said. "But, how did you survive?"

"I didn't. I was killed along with everyone else". Ike stared at Hayabusa in confusion, although this look couldn't be seen in the darkness.

"I was revived by our clan's animal spirit, the falcon. That's all you need to know. Ready to go?" he asked Ike. Ike didn't have time to react before he was teleported out of the dungeon into a different room filled with the bodies of the prisoners.

"Stay here" Hayabusa said, once again teleporting out of the room. Ike was left with many questions and no answers.

She saw the guards closing in on her, not sure what to do with herself. Then, suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her and she screamed before disappearing in a cloud of mist. She reappeared in a different room with bodies all over the floor.

"Let me go!" Zelda screamed out, her captor releasing her. She turned around to face the man that had taken her to this place.

"You're welcome" he said, walking further into the room. Zelda took a look at her surroundings, seeing all of the unconscious bodies on the floor and a familiar face in the corner of the room. "Ike?" she asked. The figure turned around, revealing that he was indeed who she thought he was.

"Zelda?" he asked, stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing" she responded. Hayabusa began to walk up to her once again.

"And just who might you be?" Zelda asked.

"I'm Hayabusa".

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Zelda. And…sorry for screaming". The three of them walked over to a round glass table and sat down on the stools next to it.

"So, what's going on here?" she asked which led into a long conversation between the three of them. Hayabusa told them that ninjas and other fighters were being captured and taken into the cave to be turned into guards of the cave. These guards were necessary just in case anyone tried to come in and stop the evil things that some people were trying to do.

"What are they trying to do?" Zelda asked.

"I'm not sure yet. My job was to find out and rescue these people before they were turned, but I think I'm a little too late. If they were given the second injection, then there's no hope for them".

Zelda interrupted, saying "That's not true! Roy was doing just fine even after the injection, right before…" she stopped herself.

"Before what?" Ike asked. "Wait, Roy's here too?"

"Yeah" Zelda answered.

"Where is he?" Ike asked.

"I don't know" Zelda said. "I haven't seen him since we saw that creature". A look of disgust crossed her face.

"Let me guess" Hayabusa jumped in. "He froze up when he saw this creature".

Zelda looked at Hayabusa in astonishment. "Yeah, how did you…" she was cut off by Hayabusa.

"Because that's what would happen to all the others if they hadn't already been turned".

"Turned? What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"The first injection is given in order to knock out and paralyze the victim so the creatures can take them to this cave. Although the prisoner usually wakes up within half an hour after they're injected, they remain paralyzed until the second injection. The second injection keeps the prisoners paralyzed and knocks them back out as well as puts something in them that makes them obey the 'Master', which is what the creature you're talking about is called. This thing was supposed to knock them out until they were ready to obey the 'Master', which was when they woke up. You woke your friend up before he was supposed to wake up, so he hadn't changed yet. Once they do, you can't get them back".

"Why can't you just take it out with your magic?" Zelda asked. "I was able to do that with Roy and myself"

"Yeah, but you only took out the paralyzing fluid, now didn't you?" he asked her. She took a moment to think about this before she realized he was right.

"It attaches itself to the victim, so you can't remove it without killing who it's attached to" he answered.

"I have a question" Ike cut in. "How do they know when to do the second injection?"

"It's timed" Hayabusa said. It was a simple answer that now seemed obvious to Ike, but he didn't reflect on this; instead, he asked another question that popped into his head.

"Wait, you said that the first injection was to paralyze the victim until the second one".

"Yeah?" Hayabusa said.

"But I wasn't completely knocked out by the first one and I was able to move not long afterwards. Why?"

This question seemed to stump all three of them.

"I'm not sure" Hayabusa answered. "I haven't seen this or heard of this happening".

A few minutes passed. This question wasn't answered, but some questions still remained.

"Did some of the people in here get the second injection already?" Zelda asked.

"I'm afraid so" Hayabusa answered. A sense of helplessness seemed to fall over the group and one thought seemed to remain at the back of their heads: what were they going to do now?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"The one you knew is gone. You can't get him back. Not now. Not ever" he said.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Marth threatened, throwing himself against the cage, closer to his threat. This only resulted in the man laughing. Marth got angrier at this reaction. Link pulled him back from the edge of the cage forcefully.

"Let me go!" he yelled at Link, but Link continued to hold him down. Hitomi sat glaring at the enemy.

"Not if I can kill you first" the man said after he was done laughing. He faced his guards and said, "You know what to do".

The cage began to move towards the opening again. As the threesome got closer and closer, Hitomi was able to see what this new chamber held inside of it: walls of lava and poison gas coming from the floor and ceiling of it. The gas wasn't coming out yet, but Hitomi could guess from the vents that poison gas was the thing that would be coming out. The man watched the three of them start to panic before he left the room, laughing his evil laugh once again. Link then released Marth.

"We have to get out of here!" Hitomi said to Marth and Link.

"How?" Link said. The guards that stood in the way of the cage stepped to the side so the cage could go past them. An idea and desperate plea rose in Marth's head.

"Roy!" he began calling towards his brother. Hitomi and Link tried to help call for the younger brother. After seeing no reaction from him, they began looking around, trying to find another escape route. Marth, however, continued to yell to his little brother.

"Marth, you have to help us!" Hitomi grabbed his shoulder. "We don't have time for this!"

Marth knew that she was right, but he couldn't give up hope; he had seen his younger brother back there, even if it was only for a few seconds. Roy couldn't be gone. Marth began to look around for another way to escape. If they didn't find a way out within the next thirty seconds, they would either be burned to death or die slowly and painfully of poison.

The group began to walk through the place where the metal gate door used to be. They turned a corner, seeing that the guards over here were all unconscious as well. Ayane's attack was more powerful than anyone had thought. They continued to walk, trying to think of how to get their friends away from where they were. Kokoro carried Ayane, since she had caught Ayane from her fall. This didn't slow her down, though, because she was still the fastest in the group. She just hoped that Ayane wouldn't wake up and find out that she was the one carrying her. Kasumi couldn't carry her sister since she was still out of energy from her shield. She looked like she was ready to pass out at any moment, so Lisa stayed close by. However, Tina didn't. She wasn't as accepting of others like Lisa was. At least she had gotten her breath back.

They were greeted by yet another metal gate, but the guards over here were knocked out like the other ones were.

"Man, Ayane has got some fire power!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know" Kasumi said.

"Ayane did all this?" Leifang asked.

"Yeah" Lisa answered. "So, where do you think we should go to find Hitomi and the boys?" she asked the group. "If we could find another way to get in there besides getting in a cage ourselves, that would be awesome, although Tina and I do have some experience in cages, now don't we?" she turned towards Tina and winked. Tina gave a slight smile and winked back. Lisa was referring to the fact that they were both wrestlers.

"How about there?" Kokoro said, talking about the gate door in front of them. They all knew that after they entered the gate, there would be enemies waiting on the other side for them.

"It looks like our only option right now. Let's go for it" Tina said. "Anyone have any ideas for opening up this door?"

"If there was a way to get these things attached to the body, there must be a way to take them out of the body without killing the person" Zelda said. "The only thing we need to know is how". Hayabusa suddenly got up from his seat at the glass table.

"Where are you going?" Zelda asked.

"I need to make sure there's no one else in the cave that can be saved" Hayabusa said. "Ike, you're coming. Zelda, you stay here and see if you can take out the paralyzing fluid in some of these people and wake them up. Are you getting your powers back?" he asked. Zelda nodded.

"Good. If their not themselves, you'll be able to tell. You've seen the look of when they turn. It was the same look you saw in your friend's eyes".

"What do I do with them if they have turned?" Zelda asked.

"Well, first of all, back away. They don't usually attack unless someone makes physical contact with them or if they're ordered to. Then, throw them in that corner" he said, pointing to the right back corner of the room. "Just like when they attack, they will usually stay put unless ordered to do otherwise. Think you'll be okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I think so".

"Okay, see you when we get back" Hayabusa said as he disappeared with Ike in another cloud of mist.

"Why is he always doing that?" Zelda asked herself out loud. "Better yet, how can he keep doing that? Doesn't his magic ever go away?"

Ike appeared with Hayabusa in yet another unfamiliar room. He was starting to get used to this, but for some reason, he was feeling unusually tired and weak.

"Let's go" Hayabusa ordered, leading Ike down a hallway. Hayabusa suddenly stopped before they walked into an opening in the hallway with different directions to choose from. He had heard something, and was signaling Ike to keep quiet as well. The noise he had heard had also stopped.

"What was that?" a female voice to the left of the hallway asked.

"I didn't hear anything" a different voice said.

"Shhh" another voice spoke up. Then, everything became completely quiet. Suddenly, coming around from the left corner, a dash of air brought someone with it. She grabbed Ike's arm and put it behind him before he could even react. Ike looked around trying to see where Hayabusa was, but he was gone.

"Who are you?" the girl in the white and pink ninja outfit demanded.

Hayabusa suddenly spoke up, his voice coming from behind Ike. "Kasumi, release him" he demanded.

The second Kasumi saw him, she released Ike. "Hayabusa" she said.

"He's with me" Hayabusa informed her. Ike shook out his now aching arm. Kasumi's sudden burst of energy was now over, leaving her looking exhausted and weak. Hayabusa noticed this, instantly realizing something had happened when he wasn't around.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, even though he could see Ayane's unconscious body leaning against Kokoro.

"Never better" Tina sarcastically said. "Nice to see you again"

Ike remained as confused as ever and for some reason, he couldn't shake the numbing feeling in his body.

"Ugh" a noise was heard coming from Ayane. Kokoro backed away from Ayane to give her some personal space. The color was coming back into Ayane's face as she sat up. After Ayane didn't say anything but started to stand up, someone asked her, "So, feeling better?" Again, Ayane didn't say anything. Instead, she just started walking in the opposite direction where Hayabusa had been heading before stopping at the sound of the girls.

"O-kay" the person said after being ignored. Everyone decided to head after Ayane. Some of the group members passed her, but Kasumi ended up catching up to her, not walking right beside her, but still going at the same pace. Ayane looked at Kasumi through the corner of her eye before turning her head slightly to face Kasumi. Kasumi was facing forward, but turned towards Ayane when she felt Ayane's eyes on her. Ayane quickly turned away and sped up her pace.

"Is there anyone else in here besides all of you who hasn't been turned into those guards yet?" Hayabusa asked the group.

"Hitomi, Marth, and Link were all captured in this one cage and taken up there somewhere" Kokoro said, pointing towards the ceiling of the cave.

"We should hurry" Leifang said before all of them started running down the hall they were in.

"Why don't we just teleport up there?" Tina asked. The three ninjas stopped running. Then Hayabusa said, "I can take some of you, but not all of you"

"I think I can, too" Kasumi jumped in. "I'm finally starting to get some of my powers back". Kasumi and Hayabusa decided who they would take up while Ayane stood to the side. She knew perfectly well that she was only strong enough to teleport herself at the moment, if she could even do that.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The cage continued to move closer and closer to the opening with lava in it. With every passing second, the three prisoners panicked a little bit more than before. Suddenly, the cage jerked to a stop, an alarm flashing in the room, leaving it in a glowing red light. The three people sitting in the cage felt some relief as this happened, but they didn't stop their search for a way out. The guards that had been standing around the cage began to back off, some leaving the room to see what the problem was and others taking their place by the wall. None of them were close enough to touch anymore and Marth was no longer sure which one was Roy.

"Do you guys see any buttons around here?" Hitomi asked the boys.

"I wasn't looking for buttons" Link told her.

"Well, start looking. One of them might open up the cage" she said.

"I see some" Marth said a couple seconds later. The buttons he talked about were against the wall right before entering the lava opening. They were on a control pad. Marth tried to reach for them, but he couldn't touch any of them.

"I can't reach" he told the others. The others tried to think of a way to reach the buttons or to find a closer button or switch.

"What about your swords?" Hitomi suggested. The boys had forgotten that they still had their swords. They each pulled their swords out, compared whose was longer, and used that one. The longer sword was Marth's.

"And if those buttons don't work, there's a switch right there" Hitomi said, pointing to the other side of the wall.

Marth pushed himself against the side of the cage once again, pushing his sword as far as it would go. He felt it hit one of the buttons, but nothing happened to the cage. Instead, a low hissing sound could be heard.

"What is that?" Hitomi asked. They looked around. Then, Link saw something coming from the vents inside the opening. It took him a second before he exclaimed "Its poison gas!"

The light green gas began to leave the opening, slowly but surely making its way into the room that the guards and prisoners were in.

"Hurry Marth! Try another one!" Hitomi said. Marth pushed another one. This time, the lava started flowing off the walls and onto the ground, flowing towards the room with everyone in it. Hitomi let out a small scream. Marth reached for another one as Link tried to reach for the switch on the other side with his sword.

Some of the guards that still stood up against these walls noticed the poison gas. That's when they saw who the cause of this was: Hitomi, Marth, and Link. All but one guard made their way towards the cage. The one guard that didn't head towards the cage ran towards the buttons next to the dangerous opening. Marth still held his sword in this direction, while Link still held his towards the switch on the other side.

The guard pushed one button in the middle of the control panel, causing the opening to close up, keeping the lava and remainder of the poison gas trapped inside. He started coughing since he inhaled some of the poison gas. Then, he ran to the wall on the other side.

"Get out of here!" the guard yelled towards the prisoners, still coughing, but pulling the switch down, opening the cage and releasing Marth, Link, and Hitomi. That's when Marth was able to tell that this guard was Roy. Marth jumped out of the cage, seeing his brother fall to the floor on his knees. His brother continued to cough, the green gas noticeably floating around him.

"Roy, get away from there!" Marth yelled to him. Roy remained facing the ground and coughing. Marth began to run towards his little brother, sucking in a lungful of air and holding his breath as he ran.

"Marth, no!" Hitomi screamed, but he continued running. Marth knew that if he didn't get his brother away from there that he would die.

The guards surrounded Hitomi and Link, seemingly forgetting about Roy and Marth. Before Marth could reach his brother, he saw Roy fall to his side, passing out, arms lying in front of him. This caused Marth to run even faster to his brother. He was beginning to run out of air, trying not to suck in the poisonous gas.

He grabbed Roy, throwing him over his shoulder and running to the other side of the room. Before he could make it to the other side, he released the breath he had been holding and sucked in some more air, along with some poison gas. He could already feel the effects of the poison moving through his body, but he made himself hold this breath in so that he wouldn't suck up any more poison. He began to cough as he put his brother against the wall on the other side of the room, allowing himself to breathe normally again.

After his fit of coughing, he pulled his brother's slumped body up into a sitting position. He pulled the hood back so he could see his brother's face. In the darkness of the surrounding room, Roy's hair looked almost black, but a hint of red was still able to be seen. Marth lifted his brother's head up so he could take a look at his face. Marth hated to admit it, but his brother didn't look like he was doing too well. Marth felt Roy's pulse, which felt unusually rapid. He could also hear Roy's breathing, which was uneven and wheezing due to the fact that he inhaled so much of the gas. He gently shook Roy by the arm to see if he would wake up, but Roy showed no sign of doing so.

"I'm sorry Roy" Marth said before getting up. He had to help the others fight off the guards that surrounded them. "I'll be back" he promised his unconscious brother before he grabbed his sword and ran off to fight with the others.

Zelda sat and removed the paralyzing liquid from yet another prisoner. It was her tenth one and half the ones she had done were starting to get that unusual glazed look in their eyes. Those five were standing in the corner of the room, unmoving. Their eyes seemed to be fixed on her, making her more uncomfortable than she already felt. All of these victims looked different, some having blonde hair, some having black. Some were girls and some were boys. As for the ones that weren't getting glazed eyes, they were passing back out or sitting in the spot they woke up in, remaining perfectly quiet.

Zelda was now grabbing the shoulders of someone with short and spiky blonde hair. She concentrated on getting the paralyzing liquid out, feeling it lift out of the body in front of her.

His eyes immediately opened and she noticed the piercing blue eyes that he had. They were more intense than anyone else's eyes and she could immediately tell that he was different than the others. She couldn't tell if he was given the second injection or not, but she backed up just in case. She saw him quickly sit up before he locked eyes with her.

After a moment's silence, the stranger realized there was no threat and decided to ask, "Where am I?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not quite sure" Zelda said. "But you're safe here"

Zelda paused before she asked her question; "So, you weren't given the second injection, were you? You seem to be acting a lot more alert than the others that were"

The stranger waited a minute before answering. "Actually, yeah I was. Why?"

Zelda quietly sucked in a sharp breath, forcing herself to be on alert. She tried not to show her fear or her new alertness to this stranger just in case he did turn out to be a threat.

The stranger saw this anyway. "Look, I feel fine. Thanks for whatever you did, but I think I should be leaving now"

"No, you can't!" Zelda burst out. "I mean, you should probably be taking it slow. You did just wake up and all".

The stranger stopped walking towards the door and turned around to face Zelda once again. He saw the concern on her face. "Like I said, I feel fine. Really. You don't need to worry about me". He paused again before asking, "So, what's your name?"

"Zelda" she replied. She waited in silence for him to tell her his name.

"Cloud" he said.


End file.
